Salisbury Beach, MA – July 10, 1920

November 18, 2015

Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts – July 10, 1920

Town of Salisbury, Mass.

Updated January 18, 2017

On July 10, 1920, a small aircraft with three people aboard was on a sightseeing flight over Hampton and Salisbury beaches. The pilot, Lieutenant Gordon L. Groah, of Lynn, Mass., routinely used this route for his sightseeing and exhibition flights. The two passengers included Mrs. Richard H. Long, of Framingham, the wife of a prominent Massachusetts politician, and an aircraft mechanic from Pittsfield, Mass., who’s first name was Gaston, but there seems to be some confusion as to his last name. Sources have spelled it Gornet, Cornet, Corrinet, and Gornorinett.

As the aircraft was at an altitude of several hundred feet over Salisbury Beach, it suddenly went into a dive and crashed on the beach in view of hundreds of beachgoers. The mechanic leaped from the plane a second before it hit the ground, thus receiving minor injuries and saving his life. Mrs. Long and Lieutenant Groah were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to Anna Jacques Hospital in nearby Newburyport, Mass., where they succumbed to their injuries.

Richard H. Long, had been a Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, in 1919.

The following item was found in February 5, 1920 edition of The Iron Trade Review on page 450.